Ben - one simple man.

He is an interesting man.  Charismatic.  Humble.  Compelling.  Lover of Jesus.  Contagious for sure.  Here he is seated just to my lower left in the front row, wearing a bright orange polo shirt, the key person on our Sonlife Asian Team in India which has over one billion people.

In 2003 Benjamin Francis left a successful business career and the comfort of a established, set-in-it's-ways church in Calcutta, India.  He wanted to use his life in a significant way for Christ and began a church planting movement in his native land. His passion for the lost drove him to bring a person to Christ and encourage that man to do the same.  This has led to a church planting movement that is spreading across India and now other countries in South East Asia; now numbering just under 12,000 village churches.  That is phenomenal growth and reproduction by anyone's standards!

As I've interacted with Benjamin over the years, I've been impressed with his tireless spirit and commitment to the cause of Christ - disciple making.  He is driven to reproduce his life in the lives of others and to see them do likewise.  He is very much like a modern day Apostle, representing Christ to the multitudes who live in darkness.  Taking the concepts that we share in our training and applying the coaching principles, Benjamin is leaving his mark on his community and native land.

God used Benjamin, not because of his great ability, but because of his availability.  He was willing to leave his comfort zone and talk to his neighbor and his fellow worker - and trust God for the results. 

One life, one simple man ... can make a difference in the lives of others.  Each of the people in the picture above are living purposefully and passionately for Christ in their home countries.  Each of them have re-prioritized their life around making disciples for Christ. 

People like Benjamin should cause us to pause and ask "What we are doing with our lives that will really matter in light of eternity?"